I think most artists are grateful for the gifts that they are given. Usually from a young age a bit of talent is recognized along with a drive and a desire and confidence to express oneself. A lot of times when I go out to paint I look hard for a subject that moves me enough to put that scene on canvas, and sometimes I bring it back into the studio and it begins to work. Once in a while I am given a gift, a scene in front of me that almost paints itself. This is what happened when I was commissioned to paint a picture of the Draper Temple:

“I had photographed the Draper Temple a year before and felt that I had enough info for the painting. Pam and I were staying in Provo getting ready to travel back to Wyoming. It was very early in the morning and I wastrying to get back to sleep and Pam said, "Maybe you should get up now and go photograph the Draper temple ."

I said , "I don't want to."

Five minutes passed and sleep wasn't coming so I said,"OK, let's get up and go!"

The sun was just rising on our way and there was quite a bit of cloud activity so I wasn't sure what we would get when we got there.

As I was shooting the temple from different angles the sun came over the hill and peeked through the clouds and there it was, about 1/4 of a rainbow , very soft and subtle but very visible. The bottom rested on a corner of the temple and the top disappeared just before it reached Moroni.